mirror of
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74 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
74 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
This is a library for creating and inspecting
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[HFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchical_File_System)-format
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disk images. Mac-specific concepts like [resource
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forks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_fork) and
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[type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_code)/[creator
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codes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creator_code) are first-class
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citizens.
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Python interface
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----------------
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The Python API is simple. The contents of a `Volume` or a `Folder` are
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accessed using the index operator `[]`. While working on a filesystem,
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its entire high-level contents are stored in memory as a Python object.
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```
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from machfs import Volume, Folder, File
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v = Volume()
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v['Folder'] = Folder()
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v['Folder']['File'] = File()
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v['Folder']['File'].data = b'Hello from Python!\r'
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v['Folder']['File'].rsrc = b'' # Use the macresources library to work with resource forks
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v['Folder']['File'].type = b'TEXT'
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v['Folder']['File'].creator = b'TTXT' # Teach Text/SimpleText
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with open('FloppyImage.dsk', 'wb') as f:
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flat = v.write(
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size=1440*1024, # "High Density" floppy
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align=512, # Allocation block alignment modulus (2048 for CDs)
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desktopdb=True, # Create a dummy Desktop Database to prevent a rebuild on boot
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bootable=True, # This requires a folder with a ZSYS and a FNDR file
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startapp=('Folder','File'), # Path (as tuple) to an app to open at boot
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)
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f.write(flat)
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with open('FloppyImage.dsk', 'rb') as f:
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flat = f.read()
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v = Volume()
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v.read(flat) # And you can read an image back!
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```
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Command-line interface
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----------------------
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This package also installs the `MakeHFS` and `DumpHFS` utilities, for
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working with folders on your native filesystem. Briefly, resource forks
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are stored in Rez-formatted `.rdump` files, and type and creator codes
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are stored in 8-byte `.idump` files. Admittedly this method of storage
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is not pretty, but it exposes changes to resource files without
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requiring Mac-specific software. For example, Git can track the addition
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and removal of resources. Files with a `TEXT` type are assumed to be
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UTF-8 encoded with Unix-style (LF) line endings, and are converted to
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Mac OS Roman encoding with Mac-style (CR) line endings.
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Both commands have a `--help` argument to display their options.
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Why?
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----
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I want an automated, reproducible way to compile legacy MacOS software.
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Without any current operating system fully supporting HFS,
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[libhfs/hfsutils](https://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/hfs/) (a C library
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and command-line wrapper) is the most capable implementation. The
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implementor chose to emulate POSIX I/O on a fake "mounted" filesystem.
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While this is important for machines with very limited RAM, the
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maintenance of consistent HFS data structures across incremental
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operations is a complicated task requiring a large amount of low-level
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code. Frequent I/O to the real filesystem also occurs. Current machines
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have memory and cycles to burn, so an in-memory implementation in a
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high-level programming language seemed like a reasonable tradeoff. As a
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result, `machfs` has nearly an order of magnitude fewer lines than
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`libhfs`, and is more maintainable, at a nearly negligible cost in
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performance.
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